Look, I’m not trolling here, but language like this – ‘a call to arms’ – only inflames an already volatile situation. Whether or not there’s much room for improving the physical infrastructure for bicycles (and in some places there will be, others less so), the biggest problem cyclists face is the attitude of people who are so self-righteous in their own belief that they’d genuinely support a motion that would remove cyclists from the shared road entirely. You say you think the UK is ready for a more ‘Continental cycling culture’, but the attitude of many a road-user suggests otherwise. This goes for cyclists, too, many of whom rarely indicate the direction in which they intend to turn, and seem equally eager to hurl vituperation toward the engine propelled road user.
The biggest single thing the government could do on this issue is to make clear that the cyclist has an incontrovertible RIGHT to be on the road; that roads were built for them as much as they were the car; that there’s no such thing as road tax; that bikes don’t cause physical damage to the roads; and that if every cyclist decided to drive a car then the situation on our roads would be indubitably worse.

Incidentally, as a cyclist, it is the pedestrian that causes me the most grief, walking into roads without so much as a glance.